Bringing up the rear, Chris Stoney, right, and one of his stockmen, Sam Levitts, drive more than 300 head of cattle down a trail on a 50-mile (80-kilometer) journey from the mountains. In December stockmen muster their cattle from the dry summer plains of rural Australia to the more fertile mountains where the cattle scatter, graze, and in April miraculously return. "They know the run of it," Stoney said. "It's like home up there. They love it." Getting the cattle back to the ranch is another story. "The dogs will find them a couple of miles away," Stoney explained, "and bark until you get there. It takes about ten days to get 'em home."